B00DSGY9XW EBOK (9 page)

"Welcome to Cedar Grove!" Master Miller said with excitement as we turned onto a narrow road that appeared to just go off into a freshly harvested cotton field.

I looked and had to squint my eyes but off in the distance I saw a large manner atop a small hill. As the wagon drew closer I could see that the bright white home was much larger than my former master’s house. We stopped in front of it and as Master Miller climbed down from the wagon I counted eight large pillars supporting the huge porch with was adorned with flower boxes, rocking chairs and a giant swing that looked as if it could hold five large adults.

"Come on down" Master Miller said as he approached the read of the wagon.

We did as we were told of course, Maddy being the first to jump from the back of the wagon followed by me, Ruby, and finally Pearl being the last to exit. The truth was that I was eager to get out of the wagon. Whatever was in store for us at our new home couldn't possibly be as bad as that wagon ride. My hips and rear end were completely numb from the bumping and jarring of the wooden surface we'd been sitting on for all of those miles.

"I'm Edward Robinson" Said a man I assumed to be our new owner. He was wearing an olive colored coat and riding boots over dark pants. His dark brown side burns came down to the bottom of his jaw. He was younger than I'd expected for a man having two grown sons. I expected he was barely forty years old if that.

"You can call me Master Edward or Mister Edward to cut down on the confusion. Before you get settled in I want to go over some things with you." Master Edward began. "I can see you are nervous but let me assure you that I know your previous owner very well. My rules here you will find should be similar to the ones you are accustomed to but I do want to stress a couple of things. New slaves have a tendency to get scared and think about running away. If you do you will be punished severely. I am a fair man and I run a fair business but make no mistake, it is a business. Anything that lends itself to harming that business will be dealt with swiftly and harshly. I give you complete freedom in your quarters provided that it does not interfere with my business or break my rules. I do not tolerate liars or thieves. I'd just as soon have you kill someone as to lie to me or any of my overseers. Any thievery including thievery from another slave will not be tolerated. I don't believe in fighting. I know your previous master had a lot of men slaves and would allow them to fight in order to settle their differences. That is not allowed here. I see you as my property and I will not have my property harmed over a mere squabble. If you have a problem, settle it amongst yourselves, if you can't have an overseer settle it for you. If he can't settle it then he will bring it to me and I assure you that you do not want your petty squabbles brought to me. I'm sure by now that you can tell that I don't like to be bothered. I have a lot of work to do. I have tobacco and cotton to sell as well as wheat that has to be taken to the market. I have milk and eggs that must be sold as well as honey and other things that we produce here. Now I want you all to meet Gam. She will show you what you will be doing, listen to her and do what she says and you will be fine here."

Gam was an older slave, likely a house nigger. She reminded me of an older version of my momma only a little heavier. Master Edward left to return to the house as Master Miller followed behind him and Bird took the horses and wagon toward a large barn, I assumed to be unhitched.

"Well come on!" Gam said.

We followed her down the hill that the large house sat on, past another smaller barn and over another hillcrest. When we topped the hill I was amazed to find what looked like a small village. There were little cabins everywhere, there were a few slaves around doing various tasks but it was deserted for the most part.

"Wow" Maddy said.

"Big
aint it?" Gam asked.

"Yes ma'am" Maddy said.

"This be nigger town" Gam said as we approached a small cabin near the end of a row, least that's what we calls it. Two of you can say in here. Thay's another girl staying here too her name Ruth."

"Now we don't work on Sunday's, but that's the only day you
aint gone have no chores." Gam said as we continued to the end of the row. "On Saturday's, Master let us stop working the farm after lunch and tend to stuff here and believe me thay's plenty to do if you want clean clothes for the next week."

We stopped at another cabin. "This cabin empty so the other two of you can stay here." Gam said.

I looked around the small cabin for a moment. I'd always lived with my parents and wasn't sure I knew how to live with someone else. Then again I was sure that I would be sharing a cabin with Maddy. I knew Pearl and Ruby would want to stay together.

"Come on, I show you what
yo work is" Gam said.

We followed Gam past the edge of nigger town. Off in the distance I saw several large buildings which grew larger and larger as we got closer. The smell was awful. I'd never seen hen houses of that size. The only ones I'd seen were smaller and produced just enough to feed the family and slaves. There were rarely extras, but these were full of laying hens and according to Gam Master Edward sold eggs to general stores, restaurants, and even families in nearby towns. She said he sold a lot of different things and that the eggs were just a small portion of what he did.

Gam took us into one of the hen houses. There were rows upon rows of boxes with wire doors stacked on top of each other nearly to the ceiling. Gam showed us how to lift the chickens and gather the eggs as easily as possible. The work didn't seem too hard but I didn't think I would ever get used to that smell.

There were four other slaves in the chicken house working diligently to gather eggs. They ignored us at first but Gam called one of the girls over.

"One of you can stay here. They posed to be five girls in every house and this one’s short. So I'll let you decide who wanna work here." Gam said

There was a long silence with nothing but the sounds of the hens clucking for several moments.

"Speak up now, or I have to pick somebody!" Gam warned.

I had no intentions of volunteering. I knew that I would be stuck in one of these houses, but I desperately wanted to get out and get a breath of fresh air once more before being stuck inside this place.

"Alright den, I guess I let you stay in did one." Gam said, speaking to Ruby.

I saw a look of panic on Pearl's face. This would be the first time she had been separated from Ruby since leaving our old farm. I started to step up and volunteer but I knew they would be separated eventually anyway and I desperately needed air so I held my tongue.

"Come on, I need to get you all settled before the sun goes down" Gam said.

We left the chicken house, the air outside was horrible, but not as horrible as the air inside. I gasped for a few short breaths as we walked from one house to the next. Maddy volunteered for the next house which was identical to the first. Neither Pearl nor I volunteered for the third and Gam told Pearl to remain at that one. I followed Gam to the fourth chicken house where she introduced me to the house leader, Etta.

"It's short for Georgettea" She said when I looked puzzled at her name. If you don't have a short name, you will soon.

"I'm Alice" I said.

"You'll be Al soon enough." Etta said.

"I'm gone leave you to it" Gam said before leaving.

There wasn't much left of the day. Etta showed me what she could before the sun began setting.

"What do we do in the winter?" I asked.

"Same thing we do in the summer" Etta replied.

"I didn't think hens lay in the winter." I asked.

"These do!" She replied. "In fact the winter is our busiest time. People buy eggs more because their own chickens don't lay."

I followed her around for a while until finally the sun had set and we were done for the day. On the way back to nigger town, Etta introduced me to the other chicken slaves as they called themselves. I met Ruth who'd had a whole cabin to herself. She was very nice though.

"You staying with me?" She asked.

"I'm not sure, Gam said that two of us would be but didn't say which two." I replied.

"That's Gam for you, she don't like making decisions, she likes volunteers" Ruth replied.

I noticed that some of the slaves here were well spoken as I was and others seemed less educated, but I wasn't about to ask about it.

"Well, yall decide and maybe I will see you later." Ruth said as she broke away from the group.

I hurried to catch up to Maddy who I saw walking a little ways ahead of me. I asked if she'd seen Pearl or Ruby but she said that she hadn't. I asked her if she'd given any thought to the living arrangements. After a short discussion, we decided that we would bunk with Ruth. It was obvious that Maddy and I were taking to our new surroundings better than Ruby and Pearl. I missed my parents but I came to terms with my new situation pretty quickly all things considered.

Several weeks went by, Maddy and I had gotten settled in. I barely noticed the smell of the chicken houses anymore. The girls and I had just finished loading the eggs into a wagon so that they could be carried to the main barn for pick up the next morning. Etta asked me to help her carry two large baskets of eggs to the main house. Master Edward had her set aside some of the better quality eggs for his family and she delivered them twice per week. Etta said we would take advantage of the wagon going to the barn and we loaded up the two baskets onto the wagon and climbed on. Charlie drove us as far as the main barn which was most of the distance to the house. We carried the heavy baskets the rest of the way.

Etta knocked on the back door, one of the house slaves answered and we took the eggs into the kitchen. It was the first time I'd been in the main house. It was very nice inside; the kitchen was bigger than three slave cabins combined. Huge pots hung on the walls and the smell of fresh baked bread filled the air. As we started back toward nigger town I heard a voice call out Etta’s name. We stopped and turned. There stood a very large white man wearing brown coat and suspenders. His size was a combination of fat and muscle on his towering frame. He was an older man, maybe in his forties I guessed. His dark hair stood out on his unshaven face. Either he was growing a beard or hadn't shaven in several days. He was somewhat attractive in a rugged sort of way, yet his clothes and posture indicated that he was anything but rugged.

"Yes Sir Master Smith?" Etta answered.

"Egg delivery?" He asked.

"Yes sir" Etta replied.

"Who's this, where's Hannah?" The Master asked.

"Han done had her baby. This is Al" Etta replied.

"Al? Is that your given name?" Master Smith asked.

"No sir, Alice is my given name" I replied.

"You're new?" He asked.

"Yes sir, I came here about two weeks ago I guess." I replied.

"Welcome to Cedar Grove" Master Smith said as he looked me up and down.

"Thank you sir" I replied.

Etta and I continued back to the cabins.

"Lord, you done caught his eye" Etta said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Aint no secret Master Smith likes slave girls, specially young pretty ones like you." Etta said.

"You talk like that's a bad thing" I said.

"Guess it depends on if you like white men or not" Etta said.

"I don't see how it matters" I replied.

"Honey, I don't think you get what I'm trying to tell you. Master Smith likes to have his way with young black girls." Etta blurted out.

"Oh my" I said.

"Now you see why it aint a good thing?" Etta asked.

"I guess so." I responded. "Momma told me that some white men force themselves on slaves"

"He aint like that. Aint never known him to be mean about it, but he'll sweet talk you and offers you pretty things and such." Etta said. "And if you don't he'll make your life hard until he moves on to another slave."

I remained silent for a moment as I tried to wrap my mind around what Etta was saying.

"He ain't met your other friends yet, but he bound to get least one of you." Etta added.

We finally made it back to our cabins. I went inside and saw Ruth and Maddy were already cooking dinner. I washed my hands in the pan outside and proceeded to help them. I kept my mouth shut about Master Smith. I didn't want Maddy knowing about him.

A few days went by. I was leaving the chicken house going back to nigger town when I heard a familiar voice call my name. I looked and it was Bird. I told Maddy and Ruth that I would catch up to them and went to see what he wanted.

"Massa Smith say foe me to come fetch you." Bird said.

"What does he want?" I asked as I caught up to him.

"Don't rightly know but he said foe me to
brang you and dat he meet you in duh barn." Bird replied.

I followed Bird as far as the barn, Bird continued on as I stopped by the open door. There was a dim light emanating from the open side door indicating that a lamp was burning inside. I stepped inside and saw Master Miller sitting at a table near some saddles on the wall.

"Come in, come in" Master Smith said.

I was nervous as I walked further into the barn. I knew what was coming, so at least I thought I did. I expected Master Smith to tell me to have marital relations with him and then threaten me if I didn't, but that's not what he did.

"Do you like working in the chicken houses?" Master Smith asked.

I paused for a moment before squeaking out. "Not especially sir"

"You know my wife is in need of a house maid, do you think that would be more to your liking?" He asked.

"I suppose so sir" I replied.

"You're still young" Master Smith began. "You may have already learned this but life is a series choices. A good choice now can affect the rest of your life, as can a bad one."

"Yes sir" I replied.

Master Smith motioned for me to sit at the table as he stood from it. I shyly sat at the chair that he'd pointed to.

"You belong to Master Edward; however he allows for an exchange of slaves and even loans them to Master Miller, Wright, and
myself." He began as he walked behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders.

"My wife asks very little of her house maid, just basic cooking and cleaning and other wifely duties." He said as he began gently massaging my shoulders.

I remained silent.

"So what would you be willing to do for an easy job like that?" He asked.

"I don't rightly know sir" I replied.

"Would you be willing to take on all of her wifely duties?" He said as he leaned down and kissed me on my neck.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked.

"Alice, understand that here at Cedar Grove we don't force our slaves to do anything. Either you work,
or you don't. We don't whip or scar slaves, as punishment we only take things away or sell the slaves off if they don't do what is expected of them. In that regard, No one here will force you to do anything that you don't want to do. I'm simply offering you easier, less smelly tasks. Only the tasks I'm offering are of a more..." Master Smith paused for a moment before continuing. "Shall we say personal nature?"

"So if I lay with you, I can be your maid.
And if I don't? I asked.

"If you don't then you simply continue working at the chicken house." He replied.

"You ain't gone sell me off?" I asked.

"That's not for me to decide. Miller is in charge of the workers." Master Smith replied as he continued rubbing my shoulders "I'm simply offering you a choice"

"That's a hard choice" I responded.

"Hard isn't the word for it" He said.

I stood up from the table. A million things were racing through my mind. I had gotten used to working in the chicken house but working in one of the Masters houses would be a lot better. At the same time, I'd never been with a man and didn't know if I would like it or not, and even if I did like it, I didn't know if I could give myself to a white man. Etta was right but I didn't know what to do.

"I stay in your house?" I asked.

"Yes, we have a room set up for a maid." He responded.

"Okay" I replied.

Master Smith wasted no time. I'd no more gotten the word out of my mouth than he began unbuttoning my shirt.

"Don't you want to wait
til I've cleaned up?" I asked.

"No, I think we're fine now." he replied.

"Master Edward already approved this?" I asked.

"Well, not this exactly. He's approved me to choose a new house servant." He replied as he unhooked the last button.

I felt exposed as he removed the shirt that covered me so well. My hard nipples protruded through the thin rag that I wore as an undergarment. Master Smith told me to take it off. I slowly pulled the rag over my head before folding my arms to cover my breasts.

"Now we can't be shy" Master Smith said.

I slowly lowered my arms to my side as he gazed at my large round chest. My nipples were still hard from the cool night air as he reached out and placed his warm hand on my left tit. I felt like I wanted to draw into myself as he gently squeezed my tit and ran his fingers across my nipple.

"You've never been with a man before have you?" He asked.

"No sir" I responded.

"I thought not" he said and he got closer to me. My instinct was to step back, but I knew that was wrong. I stood there with his body nearly touching mine, topless and exposed to anyone who might walk through the door. He slowly reached his hands down to my skirt and pulled it down. He didn't hesitate before untying my long legged panties and letting them fall to the ground. Master Smith told me to sit on the table. I did as I was told as he unbuckled his belt and pulled his pants down exposing his manhood. He was a little smaller than Bird, even though his penis was much harder than Bird's had appeared. The skin of his penis was white but the tip was pink and shaped a little differently than Birds. The head of Master Smith’s cock was rounder and not elongated like Birds. Master Smith grabbed my legs and pulled me close to the edge of the table. I remember picking up a splinter in my ass from the rough wood of the barn table. Master Smith put his hands between my legs and spread my womanly parts open. I could not see exactly what he was doing but I felt every movement as he pressed the tip of his cock against my open flower. I felt myself getting wet with anticipation and my heart raced and felt like it would beat out of my chest. I wasn't necessarily attracted to Master Smith, but I guess my body knew what was coming and was preparing itself. A moment later I felt Master Smith begin pushing inside me. There was a sharp pain when he was half way inside me. It felt like the sensitive skin of my insides was being ripped apart by his hard shaft. The pain was brief and though it was excruciating, it only lasted a few moments. I felt Master Smiths balls pressing against my ass and I knew that he was all the way inside me, though I still didn't feel full. I could tell that I was capable of having a larger penis inside me. Master Smith withdrew his cock and inserted it again. Over and over he pulled out of me and then went back inside, each time he did I felt his balls sort of slap against my ass. His mouth latched on to my right tit as he sucked and licked my dark nipple. Master Smith never kissed my mouth, I suppose that would have been too personal or intimate for him. I didn't feel loved and I didn't feel like a woman. Instead I felt a piece of meat or an inanimate object to be used for his pleasure and then thrown away.